Professions and experience on Ascension: which one levels you fastest

On Ascension, crafting grants character experience. The server says so but publishes no numbers. We measured 1249 crafts in game across 7 professions to find out which one levels you fastest — and above all how to go about it, because the same hour of crafting can yield four times more or four times less depending on a single decision.

1249crafts measured in game

7professions tested

×8gap between best and worst

9 minfor one rank of the top profession

The profession ranking

Each profession is rated on what it yields in total over a full rank — that is, before the skill cap cuts the gains off. The unit is the character level: a profession rated 0.62 grants 62% of a level on its own, from a single rank.

These ratings come from climbs actually played and timed, not from a projection. The distinction matters: a profession’s best recipe only becomes available after part of the rank has been spent on mediocre ones. A ranking that ignores that journey over-rates professions whose good recipe arrives late — which is exactly what made Engineering look better than it is.

Alchemy

0.62 character level per profession rank · 55 crafts · 9 min · measured climb 1 → 225, 260 samples

×7.9

Blacksmithing

0.61 character level per profession rank · 61 crafts · 17 min · measured climb 1 → 175, 128 samples

×7.8

Enchanting

0.46 character level per profession rank · 59 crafts · 67 min · measured climb 25 → 225, 233 samples

×5.9

Engineering

0.41 character level per profession rank · 66 crafts · 32 min · measured climb 1 → 199, 188 samples

×5.2

Leatherworking

0.36 character level per profession rank · 63 crafts · 11 min · measured climb 1 → 199, 151 samples

×4.6

Tailoring

0.34 character level per profession rank · 73 crafts · 12 min · measured climb 150 → 182, 32 samples

×4.3

First Aid

0.08 character level per profession rank · 87 crafts · 26 min · measured climb 51 → 210, 195 samples

×1.0

Why no experience numbers. The raw gain of a craft depends on bonuses you may or may not have: rested experience, an experience aura bought on the server. They shift every recipe together. The ratio between two recipes, however, does not move — so that is what we publish. An exact figure would mean showing our least reliable data in place of our most reliable.

The rule that changes everything: colour

A recipe changes colour as your skill rises: orange, yellow, green, then grey. Everyone knows a grey recipe yields nothing. What almost nobody knows is what happens just before.

Turning green costs a recipe only a few percent of its gain — but it consumes three to eight times fewer skill points. And those points are what is scarce: a rank grants a fixed number of them, and once spent, nothing yields any more. A green recipe therefore lets you craft far longer before hitting the wall.

Measured on a single blacksmithing recipe, end to end:

Orange

2.00 skill points per craft — the most expensive regime

Yellow

1.11 points per craft

Green

0.60 point per craft — same gain, three times less budget spent

The method, in four moves

Find the recipe whose green band starts at your current skill. The thresholds are public: every recipe has four steps (learned, yellow, green, grey).
Start on it immediately, before skilling up further. Entering a green band near its end wastes most of its value, and nothing in the game will tell you.
Drain it completely, until it turns grey.
Find the next one. This is not « craft whatever yields most »: it is a hunt for windows that open and close.

Profession by profession

For each profession, its best measured recipes, their green band, their real crafting time and their reagents. The bar shows relative efficiency: the most efficient recipe of the whole study is the 100% reference.

Alchemy

A full rank grants 0.62 character level, in 55 crafts and roughly 9 minutes. Measured on a climb from 1 to 225 over 161 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Below skill 50, none of these recipes is available yet. Climb there with any starter recipe — the trainer’s, with the cheapest reagents. That opening stretch matters little: it is short, and every recipe is worth much the same. The gap opens from the first line below onwards.

Elixir of Minor Fortitude

learned at 50 green from 100 → 119 1.8s per craft 80 samples

Earthroot ×2

Peacebloom ×1

Empty Vial ×1

Elixir of Water Breathing

learned at 90 green from 140 → 159 2.3s per craft 14 samples

Stranglekelp ×1

Blackmouth Oil ×2

Empty Vial ×1

Strong Troll’s Blood Elixir

learned at 125 green from 170 → 189 2.2s per craft 55 samples

Bruiseweed ×2

Briarthorn ×2

Leaded Vial ×1

Elixir of Defense

learned at 130 green from 175 → 194 2.2s per craft 20 samples

Wild Steelbloom ×1

Stranglekelp ×1

Leaded Vial ×1

Elixir of Agility

learned at 185 green from 225 → 244 2.9s per craft 7 samples

Stranglekelp ×1

Goldthorn ×1

Leaded Vial ×1

Oil of Immolation

learned at 205 green from 240 → 259 2.9s per craft 6 samples

Firebloom ×1

Goldthorn ×1

Crystal Vial ×1

Blacksmithing

A full rank grants 0.61 character level, in 61 crafts and roughly 17 minutes. Measured on a climb from 1 to 175 over 141 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Rough Copper Vest

learned at 1 green from 35 → 54 1.2s per craft 29 samples

Copper Bar ×4

Copper Shortsword

learned at 25 green from 85 → 104 1.2s per craft 53 samples

Copper Bar ×6

Weak Flux ×1

Linen Cloth ×2

Thick Bronze Darts

learned at 100 green from 145 → 159 1.8s per craft 13 samples

Bronze Bar ×6

Rough Grinding Stone ×2

Medium Leather ×1

Bronze Warhammer

learned at 125 green from 170 → 184 7.5s per craft 14 samples

Bronze Bar ×8

Strong Flux ×1

Medium Leather ×1

Bronze Bar Upgrade Kit

thresholds unknown 2.0s per craft 19 samples

reagents not published by the server database

Enchanting

A full rank grants 0.46 character level, in 59 crafts and roughly 67 minutes. Measured on a climb from 25 to 225 over 150 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Enchant Bracer – Minor Stamina

learned at 50 green from 120 → 139 4.2s per craft 30 samples

Strange Dust ×3

Enchant Cloak – Minor Protection

learned at 70 green from 130 → 149 6.1s per craft 3 samples

Strange Dust ×3

Greater Magic Essence ×1

Enchant Weapon – Minor Striking

learned at 90 green from 140 → 159 4.6s per craft 20 samples

Strange Dust ×2

Greater Magic Essence ×1

Small Glimmering Shard ×1

Enchant 2H Weapon – Minor Impact

learned at 100 green from 150 → 169 4.3s per craft 15 samples

Strange Dust ×4

Small Glimmering Shard ×1

Enchant Bracer – Lesser Stamina

learned at 130 green from 175 → 194 4.4s per craft 49 samples

Soul Dust ×2

Enchant Boots – Lesser Stamina

learned at 170 green from 210 → 229 4.4s per craft 62 samples

Soul Dust ×4

Engineering

A full rank grants 0.41 character level, in 66 crafts and roughly 32 minutes. Measured on a climb from 1 to 199 over 175 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Rough Boomstick

learned at 50 green from 95 → 109 3.0s per craft 12 samples

Copper Tube ×1

Handful of Copper Bolts ×1

Wooden Stock ×1

Deadly Blunderbuss

learned at 105 green from 142 → 154 25.0s per craft 5 samples

Copper Tube ×2

Handful of Copper Bolts ×4

Wooden Stock ×1

Medium Leather ×2

Whirring Bronze Gizmo

learned at 0 green from 150 → 174 2.0s per craft 27 samples

Bronze Bar ×2

Wool Cloth ×1

Bronze Framework

learned at 0 green from 170 → 194 2.0s per craft 5 samples

Bronze Bar ×2

Medium Leather ×1

Wool Cloth ×1

Solid Blasting Powder

learned at 0 green from 185 → 194 3.0s per craft 19 samples

Solid Stone ×2

Mithril Tube

learned at 0 green from 215 → 234 3.0s per craft 20 samples

Mithril Bar ×3

Leatherworking

A full rank grants 0.36 character level, in 63 crafts and roughly 11 minutes. Measured on a climb from 1 to 199 over 165 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Handstitched Leather Bracers

learned at 1 green from 55 → 69 1.2s per craft 29 samples

Light Leather ×2

Coarse Thread ×3

Embossed Leather Cloak

learned at 60 green from 105 → 119 1.8s per craft 34 samples

Light Leather ×5

Coarse Thread ×2

Dark Leather Cloak

learned at 110 green from 147 → 159 7.5s per craft 12 samples

Medium Leather ×8

Fine Thread ×1

Gray Dye ×1

Heavy Armor Kit

learned at 150 green from 180 → 189 1.2s per craft 25 samples

Heavy Leather ×5

Fine Thread ×1

Heavy Leather Upgrade Kit

thresholds unknown 2.0s per craft 31 samples

reagents not published by the server database

Soulbound Cowl

thresholds unknown 2.0s per craft 5 samples

reagents not published by the server database

Tailoring

A full rank grants 0.34 character level, in 73 crafts and roughly 12 minutes. Measured on a climb from 150 to 182 over 31 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Bolt of Linen Cloth

learned at 1 green from 37 → 49 1.2s per craft 6 samples

Linen Cloth ×2

Bolt of Silk Cloth Upgrade Kit

thresholds unknown 2.0s per craft 26 samples

reagents not published by the server database

First Aid

A full rank grants 0.08 character level, in 87 crafts and roughly 26 minutes. Measured on a climb from 51 to 210 over 185 crafts.

The most efficient recipes, in order

Sorted by skill: this is the order to chain them in. Move to the next one when the previous leaves its green band.

Linen Bandage

learned at 1 green from 45 → 59 0.9s per craft 25 samples

Linen Cloth ×1

Heavy Linen Bandage

learned at 40 green from 75 → 99 0.9s per craft 59 samples

Linen Cloth ×2

Wool Bandage

learned at 0 green from 115 → 149 0.9s per craft 62 samples

Wool Cloth ×1

Silk Bandage

learned at 0 green from 180 → 209 0.9s per craft 21 samples

Silk Cloth ×1

Heavy Silk Bandage

learned at 0 green from 210 → 239 0.9s per craft 18 samples

Silk Cloth ×2

Mageweave Bandage

learned at 0 green from 240 → 269 1.5s per craft 10 samples

Mageweave Cloth ×1

The costliest traps

Crafting your own reagents can cancel the benefit. In Engineering, the Rough Boomstick requires a Copper Tube — also crafted by the same profession, and in exactly the same colour band. Making it yourself therefore eats the budget meant for the Boomstick: 67% less yield. Conversely, crafting a reagent that is already grey for you costs nothing at all, since a grey recipe consumes no points.

Finished items are a time trap. A silk vest takes 28 seconds, a conversion kit 3 seconds. The finished item yields more per craft, but nine times less per minute. Look for conversion recipes — they need no target and no confirmation.

Stop a profession when its next tier changes ore. The skill cap should not be what decides; the price of reagents should. A fresh rank on another profession is worth nearly ten times the tail end of one that has become expensive.

How these numbers were obtained. Every craft was recorded in game with the exact state of the experience bar before and after, the skill rank, and the rested bonus — 1249 crafts in total, on characters from level 10 to level 36. The colour thresholds announced by the server’s database were checked against our own measurements on four independent recipes: they match exactly.